Bruce Hornsby will issue a new album entitled Absolute Zero via Zappo Productions/Thirty Tigers on April 12. The follow-up to 2016’s Rehab Reunion features a number of special guests. Hornsby unveiled the lead single “Voyager One” and added a handful of Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers dates.
The legendary musician handled most of the production duties on the 10-track album, which also features additional production from Justin Vernon, Tony Berg and Brad Cook. Musical contributors include Vernon, yMusic, The Staves, Blake Mills, Jack DeJohnette, Sean Carey, the The Orchestra of St. Hanks (Frost School/Univ. of Miami), The Noisemakers and more. One tune of the LP, “Take You There (Misty)” was co-written with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.
Here’s more information on the album from a press release:
The genesis of Absolute Zero began within Hornsby’s work as a film composer for writer-director Spike Lee. Hornsby started collaborating with Lee in 1992; ultimately, in 2008, he began scoring for Lee. What began to intrigue him were scoring components known as “cues,” those comparatively brief passages of music used in films to heighten certain narrative visuals and/or spoken developments. Additionally, Hornsby’s interest in literary fiction, specifically the work of Don DeLillo and the late David Foster Wallace, inspired his songwriting. Hornsby’s songs, both in spirit and memory, function collectively as a homage to fiction writing that, while often poetic, takes no prisoners. The multi-faceted album is another example of Hornsby’s constant musical evolution and how he’s able to combine disparate elements into an accessible soundscape.
Listen to the single “Voyager One,” which Hornsby describes as “Steve Reich Meets Prince”:
Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers kick off a tour in support of the LP at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston on April 25. From there, Hornsby brings the band to Ridgefield, Connecticut; Kingston, New York and New York City to end the month. May includes an appearance at the Beachlife Festival and at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Hornsby and his band begin the June portion of the run in Charleston, South Carolina on June 18. The group will also make tops in Atlanta, Lexington (Virginia), Knoxville, Asheville, Gettysburg, Geneva (New York) and Derry (New Hampshire).
Absolute Zero Tracklist
- Absolute Zero (featuring Jack DeJohnette)
- Fractals
- Cast Off (featuring Justin Vernon and Sean Carey)
- Meds (featuring Justin Vernon, Blake Mills and Rob Moose)
- Never In This House (featuring yMusic and The Staves)
- Voyager One (featuring yMusic)
- Echolocation
- The Blinding Light Of Dreams (featuring yMusic)
- White Noise
- Take You There (Misty) (featuring yMusic)
